Is the Families First Home Visiting Program Effective in Reducing Child Maltreatment and Improving Child Development?

While home visiting programs are among the most widespread interventions to support at-risk families, there is a paucity of research investigating these programs under real-world conditions. The effectiveness of Families First home visiting (FFHV) was examined for decreasing rates of being in care o...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Child maltreatment 2017-05, Vol.22 (2), p.121-131
Main Authors: Chartier, Mariette J., Brownell, Marni D., Isaac, Michael R., Chateau, Dan, Nickel, Nathan C., Katz, Alan, Sarkar, Joykrishna, Hu, Milton, Taylor, Carole
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Age Factors
Child
Child Abuse
Child abuse & neglect
Child Abuse - prevention & control
Child Development
Child Welfare
Child, Preschool
Children
Domiciliary visits
Effectiveness
Families & family life
Family (Sociological Unit)
Family Therapy - methods
Female
Health education
Health services
Health visiting
Home health care
Hospitalization
House Calls
Humans
Kindergarten
Male
Program Evaluation
Propensity
Retrospective Studies
Risk
Social Services
Young Adult
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Summary:While home visiting programs are among the most widespread interventions to support at-risk families, there is a paucity of research investigating these programs under real-world conditions. The effectiveness of Families First home visiting (FFHV) was examined for decreasing rates of being in care of child welfare, decreasing hospitalizations for maltreatment-related injuries, and improving child development at school entry. Data for 4,562 children from home visiting and 5,184 comparison children were linked to deidentified administrative health, social services, and education data. FFHV was associated with lower rates of being in care by child’s first, second, and third birthday (adjusted risk ratio [aRR] = 0.75, 0.79, and 0.81, respectively) and lower rates of hospitalization for maltreatment-related injuries by third birthday (aRR = 0.59). No differences were found in child development at kindergarten. FFHV should be offered to at-risk families to decrease child maltreatment. Program enhancements are required to improve child development at school entry.
ISSN:1077-5595
1552-6119
DOI:10.1177/1077559517701230